Green Options

Did you know that 479 degrees Fahrenheit is the optimal temperature for popping corn? 479° knows it, and makes artisan popcorn the old-fashioned way, from scratch, by hand, here in San Francisco.

Arnold’s organization actively practices the four pillars of SOLE - sustainable, organic, local and ethical - “by working with farmers who practice sustainable organic farming and employ fair trade practices, ensuring that both our planet and its people are well taken care of.”

I am so inspired by the brilliant founder Jean Arnold. 479° Popcorn uses the finest organic ingredients as well as savvy sustainable business practices.

Here are some of their signature sweet and savory popcorn flavors:

One of my guiding philosophies, which I try to model for my children, is that we try to create for ourselves instead of buying: we make some of our clothes, we do some of our own gardening, and we often make toys and games instead of purchasing them.

To do these things, however, requires a set of practical skills that we as parents may not have learned when we, ourselves, were young. It was a painful process to teach myself how to sew on a hand-me-down sewing machine, for instance, I feel there’s a lot I don’t know about gardening even though I’ve read a LOT of books, and learning to knit from a youtube video? For me–impossible.

In previous generations I wouldn’t have had to teach myself how to cook, or make my own soap, or even breastfeed–I’d have had an entire community to teach me from childhood as part of the local culture. And that’s why, even though I try not to support most big-box stores with my money when I can instead shop at an independent store, there is one aspect of both big-box and local stores that I wholeheartedly support:

My family is coming for Thanksgiving this year and in the spirit of the season, we wanted to try and do something a little different, a 100-mile Thanksgiving.

The 100-mile movement is a local eating experiment whereby you buy food that is locally raised and produced from within a 100-mile radius of where you live.  We have 22 family and friends coming from up and down the East coast from Ithaca, NY to Tampa, and while the family is generally sympathetic to green-living, it required some friendly advice to pull it off. So, I sent an e-mail describing the concept and offering helpful advice, tips, links, etc.

We did our part, ordering a bunch of stuff from our milk man and local farm, Southmountain Creamery. We spent Sunday morning at the Dupont Circle Farmers Market and found all sorts of fabulous greens, yams, “Dr. Seuss” cauliflower, herbs, cheeses and chicken for stock. Once the kids warmed up with hot cocoa and croissants it was a terrific morning all around.

As for the rest of the guests, at first I heard nothing back from my email.

Then a few requests to resend the email.

Finally….

My sister-in-law from Brooklyn jumped in with apple-pear chutney to replace cranberry sauce. She also asked if chocolate from Jacques Torres in Brooklyn qualified. We decided, since one cannot pass up Jacques Torres Chocolate and we’re making a similar exception for coffee, that products with raw materials that cannot be found within a 100 miles (cocoa nibs, coffee beans) can be brought if they are processed locally. So, Jacques Torres is in as is Gimme Coffee! roasted in Ithaca, NY.

In Part 1 of this series, I discussed how the demand for inexpensive olive oil in large quantities is causing environemental problems in some of the world’s largest olive oil producing countries including Italy, Spain, Greece and Portugal.

It’s estimated that 95% of the olive oil in the country comes form the Mediterranean region. For those of us in America who are trying to incorporate more local foods into our diet, this causes a problem. The U.S. isn’t known for it’s olive oil. At least, not yet. But it seems that many regions in California are stepping up their olive growing and their olive oil producing. According to a news brief on oliveoilsource.com

Olive oil is a rapidly growing industry in California, with volume projected to increase by 1000 percent in the next five years. California also produces 99.9% of the olive oil grown in the U.S.

and recently

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed into law Senate Bill (SB) 634 to provide stronger support to domestic olive oil producers nationwide by giving further clarification and quality control over olive oil sold in the United States.

So it looks like there will be a lot more olive oil being produced in the U.S. and steps are being taken to ensure the quality of that oil. In fact, the article says that

the new law finally gives regulatory weight to how olive oil is labeled and marketed and substance to quality control issues that have plagued the industry involving lower-grade oils fraudulently marketed as extra virgin.

Recently, I’ve noticed a new trend in recipe ingredients. When newer recipes, especially those on foodie recipe websites, call for olive oil, they don’t just call for “2 tbsp. olive oil.” The recipes now frequently call for “2 tbsp. of the best olive oil you can get.” I don’t know about you, but when I think of best quality olive oil, I always think it must come from Italy. So I make sure my olive oil comes from Italy.

I know that olive oil is a healthier choice, and I use it frequently. I buy the supermarket brand (which is a product of Italy) because, honestly, I understand that some of the more expensive brands may taste better, but I’m not willing to put out the money for expensive oil. But maybe I should be. Or maybe I should be buying it from a source closer to me than Italy - like the U.S.

Here’s why I’m questioning my olive oil choices. I recently came across an article written last August in the U.K. Telegraph titled Olive Oil Consumption Leading to ‘Serious Environmental Problem.’ According to the article, Ecologist magazine reports that in Italy, Spain, Greece and Portugal

While grocery shopping during a recent trip to Tennessee I realized how much I missed my “local” products. I also realized that shopping local is a very green choice. When you hear shop local you may just think about locally grown and seasonal produce (which is mainly what I associated with buying local) but it’s also about supporting local businesses, companies, and brands which all support the local economy.

There are several brands that mean home to me: Koegel, Vernors, and Faygo. Koegel is a meat company that’s been in Flint since the early 1900’s , and if you’ve never had a Koegel hot dog you don’t know what your missing. My husband wouldn’t touch a hot dog until he moved to Michigan and I convinced him to try a Koegel. Now he’ll gladly eat hot dogs, as long as they are Koegels and only Koegels.

I’ve been thinking a lot about the Food service Industry these days. A recent article in Environmental Leader noted that of all of the industries tracked by Climate Counts , an organization that produces a company scorecard , Food Service scored the lowest.

Overall the average company score increased from 30.6 in 2007 to 39.3 this year - a 22% increase. Twenty-three companies were ranked as “striding” (making progress toward change) vs. 18 last year. Ten companies are still ranked as “stuck” vs. 18 last year.

However, the Food Services sector had the lowest average (11.5 out of 100) of any of the eight sectors measured with smallest overall improvement.

Why is it so difficult for food service companies to go green?